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Many people are dreaming of getting their own guitar and learning how to play it. Some of these people want to just learn for the fun of it and others want to be in the spot light and become a famous guitar player. What ever your reason is, you too can learn to play the guitar for the fun of it.

If you really want to become good at playing the guitar, there are a few things that you need to know. You need to learn, practice, and follow the training that you have gotten yourself into or will get yourself into. You need to practice, practice, and practice more to get a good hang of it and become a pro. Some people don't realize this and give up when they feel it is too hard for them.

Some people don't have the patience or the money to hire a guitar coach who will come to their house a few times per week. A few people like to learn to play the guitar by themselves and that is perfectly fine but it would take a person weeks and even months to get the hang of the basics.

The Internet is now allowing people to learn guitar with online tutorials and videos from actual guitar teachers. No longer do you have to hire a teacher that will come to your house and pay them a high fee to learn to play the guitar.

You can go on the Internet and find many good and solid online guitar courses that will teach you how to play the guitar in less time and have fun at doing that. Guitar playing guides that are on the Internet have been around for some time now. They allow you to learn more then just the basics.

Again, you are going to have fun at the same time.

Learning to play the guitar should be a very fun thing to do for you and the people who are around you such as family members. With the Internet, you can now do all the learning from home and with some great guitar playing videos that make all the process a fun thing to do.

If you are looking for an online guitar playing tutorial and video lessons, you need to know that some of them do require a one time low fee. The cost can start at $39 and can go up to $200. Usually the low cost one involves you getting the training through the Internet. Some products that are close to the $200 mark are based on getting all the training through mail.

So there are many good guitar lessons out there online, but if you are not sure where to start then I am inviting you to visit my link below and see which program I am personally recommending. It is packed with easy-to-follow, step by step video instructions that show you how to play the guitar in great detail.

To learn more about guitar playing, grab your copy of the "Online Insider Secrets to Playing the Guitar!" system right now: http://www.guitar-playing-guide.com/

Independently spirited, colourful and musically individual, Sweden's top Hip Hop export Looptroop take on the guise of the Looptroop Rockers on their fourth studio album, Good Things, drawing more heavily from their dancehall/reggae roots, with an emphasis on live instrumentation.

The upbeat single The Building characterizes the album perfectly. Amongst the careful construction of frenetic drums, funky guitar, synth and accordion, dreadlocked front-man Promoe utilizes not only his intelligent working man rap but also his sing-songy cadence, along with fellow 'Troop mic wrangler Supreme.

The white-collar theme is further explored on the next selection, Marinate. It is stripped down to a more back-to-basics Hip Hop style, without sacrificing too much of the instrumentation.

Even with the mostly solid execution, there are instances where the three-piece overindulge in their musical exploration. The ill-advised Living On A Prayer (yes, they are covering Bon Jovi) is certainly a blemish on an otherwise enjoyable album. The same goes for Nave, a techno/electro number which would sound more comfortable on a Ministry of Sound release.

Despite a couple of lapses in judgment, efforts like the media-criticizing Trance Fat, where they are joined by Dilated Peoples member Rakaa, as well as the chaotic Rome, more than make up for it. Possibly Looptroop's most polished album, Good Things, finds their bridging of genres and styles meeting its logical conclusion. While it is a party record, it definitely bears fruit for the mind.

Cop some very well-rounded global stylings.

Available through David vs. Goliath Records

By Andrew Hickey (Contributor and Content Manager) http://www.planeturban.com.au

As one of those aforementioned couch spuds (and a sneaker fan), I have noted with interest that the humble sneaker has left vital clues in many an episode of CSI. but HOW to separate fact from fiction? What role does the sneaker play in the forensic sciences? Aficionados may understandably muse over the merits of the speckled or gum sole, but the folks in the crime lab are more interested in the print shoes leave behind. As it happens, shoe prints are incredibly important clues often left at crime scenes.

The number of shoe print patterns out there is huge. Shoe print indices and databases have been developed in various countries. Commercial company Foster and Freeman have a range of software tools to identify shoes, including SICAR and SoleMate. Forensic Science Services (FSS) is a UK Government owned company that released an online footwear coding and detection management system this year, entitled Footwear Intelligence Technology.

I contacted Laura Mackin at the FSS who informed me that they have records of more than 20,000 shoe prints of which approximately 90 per cent come from sneakers. I was intrigued as to how the database was compiled; were they getting shoes from the manufacturers? From shops? As it happens, all of the prints come from shoes given to the FSS by the 43 police forces around the UK, either from marks left at a crime scene or from sneakers confiscated from a suspect. Interestingly, the FSS don’t have any special agreements with manufacturers. This was a bit of a disappointment as I was hoping to learn that the most comprehensive sneaker collection in the UK was at the FSS.

The FSS also offer the fantastically named ‘Cinderella Service’, which helps identify personal information about suspects including the angle of their footfall and weight distribution. Facey wrote in the journal Pattern Recognition that ‘shape and extent of the the general wear apparent on a shoe sole contains information about the foot function and gait of the wearer.’ The use of US Army anthropometric databases has allowed models to predict height based on shoe size. English tabloid newspaper The Mirror reported this June, with perhaps a hint of schadenfreude at the shoe manufacturer’s expense, that sneakers are the most popular shoes used by criminals as evidenced by shoe prints, and listed the top ten shoes for English crims.

The list I received from the FSS was exactly the same; so there haven’t been any changes in the sneaker buying habits of the criminal world in the last few months. Whilst this list may provoke some tittering amongst tabloid readers or annoyance for the manufacturers PR companies, no mention is made of what the top ten sneakers sold are, and whether the two lists are significantly different; ie most bad boys may wear the top ten listed but perhaps so do the general population in England. It would be interesting to see how these lists vary between countries. The data is also for all crimes, rather than category of crime. The FSS doesn’t store this info, and I can imagine the manufacturers are at least grateful for that.

As with any forensic test, the shoe print is not a tool to be used without caution. A survey in the 1996 issue of Forensic Science International demonstrated ‘remarkable variations’ in conclusions of shoe print reports from different laboratories examining the same cases! Hopefully computer databases have reduced the error rate. Miss Mackin (FSS) informed me that ‘footwear is the second most common evidence type after DNA and is capable of definitively putting someone at a crime scene, particularly thanks to the unique wear marks that each pair will have’.

The Mirror’s article has a quote from someone at Nike who said (in response to their shoes being six of the top ten worn in British crimes): ‘We are Britain’s best-selling trainer manufacturer so we’re not surprised we feature. We’ve no further comment.’ Whilst this indeed is common sense as previously noted, perhaps they should consider another approach; embrace it. I see it now, The Prisoner Pack; all orange Air Max 90s, black and white striped Air Max 95s. And why not cash in on the whole ‘all over print’ phenomenon and do some hyperstrikes that have an all over arrow motif!

This has been Nikolai for Sneaker Freaker
reporting from the Crime Lab.

Huge thanks to Laura Mackin at the Forensic Science Service Labs and Prof James Fraser at The University of Strathclyde.

Europe is one of the highest rated countries concerning the use of wind turbines. Wind turbines generate more electricity for Europe as an alternative source of energy than the United States.

European Wind turbine manufacturers work diligently to make improvements. By letting consumers have a better understanding of the wind turbine and how it works. As well as how many wind turbines are already supplying an alternate source of energy for Europe.

European agencies believe that wind turbines not only have the potential to satisfy a much needed energy demand, but also have a significant and vital role in households and the economy. The energy battle will be won by those countries of the world that embrace a strategy of developing, deploying and exporting alternative energy solutions. The wind turbine is that solution, to a world that cannot afford to live without energy.

In fact, in Europe, Wind farms are more correctly called wind power plants. More than ten percent of Europe today has this alternative energy source, the wind turbine. Most small homes and businesses are encouraged to invest in this alternative in an effort to conserve energy resources.

Europe contains the largest concentration of wind turbines. With nearly one percent of the nation's 5 million inhabitants owning a wind turbine or have a share in a wind turbine. Europeans excel over many of the smaller places that are just realizing the use of wind turbines, and the benefits of the machines.

After years of playing second fiddle to mainstream power sources, Europe's renewable energy sector is now going from strength to strength, outnumbering wind turbines in the United States. Europe is setting the example. By the means of wind turbine plants being set into action all over the country of Europe.

According to statistics, 40% of the world's wind farms over the next eight years will be controlled by Europe. As 13 of the 20 largest wind power markets are already located in Europe. Wind turbine power is essentially the same for creating electricity in Europe as it is in the United States; however Europe uses this alternate energy resource more.

Manufacturers in Europe operate much like those found in the United States. The same technology and performance of the wind turbine is basically the foundation for these companies too. The Wind turbine does differ in Europe in some ways, according to the wind indifference and gusts. But, Eastern Europe is pegged to grow by 33% annually in the wind turbine industry.

Many home owners in Europe consider buying a windmill for their home an investment, much like buying a car or anything else. Wind turbines are as common to them as cars. Yet in the United States it is a slower process. Europeans use the vertical axis windmill without even giving it a second thought. They already know the benefits of using the machine and the lower cost of living it enhances by saving on electrical expenses.

Wind turbines in Europe are beneficial to their economy as well as to the environment. This they take very seriously, according to the percentage of those wind turbines currently in Europe. Giving a better understanding of the statistics and resources of what the wind Turbine includes.

Energy is so expensive these days wouldn't it be nice to stop receiving high electric bills? To find out if windmill power is right for you visit http://residential-windmills.com

Reigniting our popular bootleg feature with a great MMJ set... My Morning Jacket 10-23-2005 Murat Theater Indianapolis, IN Disc 1 01 - Intro 02 - Wordless Chorus 03 - It Beats 4 U 04 - Gideon 05 -… (in post Bootleg Justice - My Morning Jacket Live @ Murat Theater in Indianapolis, IN (10.23.2005) from Musical Justice. Download this at iTunes More by this artist at eMusic Amazont)

With your ukulele you can play many nice and fun chord progressions. You will use ukulele tablature so you don't need to know sheet music.

The following chords presupposes that you have tuned your ukulele in the most common way with the first string with the highest pitch to an A.

We will first learn the two ukulele chords C-major and A7. In order to be able to show you how to play these chords I will present the ukulele tab notation I will use in this article.

Tablature is a form of notation that shows you how to put your fingers on your ukulele to play melodies and chords. The digit before the slash shows you which fret to play and the digit after the slash what string to play. Here is the C-major chord:

0/4 0/3 0/2 3/1

To clarify the before mentioned tab notation: 3/1 means that you press down the third fret on string one. I will also show you the fingerings for your left hand. The left hand fingers are usually numbered:

Index: 1

Middle finger: 2

Ring finger: 3

Pinky: 4

The fingering for the previous C chord is beginning with the fourth string: 0 0 0 3

Let's start to strum on the ukulele with this chord:

C / / /

You can use your right hand thumb to strum the ukulele chord progressions or use a pick.

This chord notation means that you strum once on the C chord when you see the letter C and then once for every following slash. Time for the next chord A7:

0/4 1/3 0/2 0/1 and the fingering 0 1 0 0

Now you can create your first progression:

C / / / A7 / / /

Remember to strum with your right hand in an even pace even when you change chords. This can be difficult at first so you might need to concentrate on practicing the changing part before you can play the progression.

Well, I guess you feel that the progression is not complete. You will need two more ukulele chords. Let's choose D7 and G7:

D7: 2/4 0/3 2/2 0/1 Fingering: 1 0 2 0

G7: 0/4 2/3 1/2 2/1 Fingering: 0 2 1 3

Now you can make a complete ukulele chord progression:

C / / / A7 / / / D7 / / / G7 / / /

The next ukulele chords you can use in the key of C are two minor chords, A-minor and D-minor:

Am: 2/4 0/3 0/2 0/1 Fingering: 2 0 0 0

Dm: 2/4 2/3 1/2 0/1 Fingering: 2 3 1 0

Remember to strum the chords in a slow even pace in order to feel the pulse. These progressions are turnarounds meaning that as you come to the end of the progression you can start all over again without stopping.

Here is the next ukulele chord progression:

C / / / Am / / / Dm / / / G7 / / / /

Now it's time for you to learn the F-major chord:

F: 2/4 0/3 1/2 0/1 Fingering: 2 0 1 0

Now you can play the previous chord progression with a variation using the F chord:

C / / / Am / / / F / / / G7 / / / /

You will end this practice session by playing a diminished C chord and a little longer progression. Here is the C dim chord:

Cdim: 2/4 3/3 2/2 3/1 Fingering: 1 3 2 4

Time for the progression:

F / / / Cdim / / / C / / / A7 / / /

D7 / / / G7 / / / C / / / C / / /

Now it's time for you to use these progressions to experiment with and create other combinations of chords. This will develop your ear, your musical ability and give you practice in the art of changing chords.

Peter Edvinsson invites you to download your free ukulele tablature, sheet music, ebooks, music lessons and read his sheet music blog at Capotasto Music.

This article takes a look at musicians' injuries. For an expert perspective, I interviewed Dr. Sarah Mickeler, B.Mus., D.C. Dr. Mickeler is a former professional musician and a chiropractor who concentrates on musicians' injuries in her practice.

1) What led you to specialize in musicians' injuries?

I have a very personal connection to musician's injuries. I had trained as a classical clarinet player and it was during my undergrad that I started to have all sorts of problems from playing too much and with poor posture. Unfortunately, I was told, as many others are, that I should just play through the pain and that maybe it would get better! Of course, it didn't, and it eventually led to the demise of my career as a clarinetist, because I was totally unable to hold up my instrument. So, I decided to pick a new career that would help others musicians - and hopefully before they got to the point that I was at! Chiropractic appealed to me because of the whole health care paradigm that it embodies - as chiropractors, we diagnose and fix the cause, rather than masking the symptoms.

2) What is different about treating musicians than treating the general population?

Often, what I tell people who don't understand the specifics of musicians' injuries, is that "it takes one to know one". As a musician, it can be very difficult to explain to a physician or physiotherapist or even another chiropractor what the mechanics look like when you are playing your instrument. But when someone comes into my office and says that they play flute, or guitar, or tuba, or whatever, I know exactly what the physical component of playing their instrument involves. That is a very important first step.

Secondly, not only do you have to be able to have a good understanding of what playing that instrument involves, but you have to be able to see that person play. Even if someone tells me they play violin (I automatically think: "ok, so they will be leaning their head to the left and have right shoulder problems, etc..."), I am often shocked to see how over the years of playing they have contorted themselves into a little pretzel while they play!

So, on the first or second visit, all of my musicians bring in their instruments and I do a thorough playing analysis to see what it is that they're doing right and wrong. It could be that their posture is contributing to their injury. Or maybe there's something about the instrument that we could change; it might just need a minor adjustment in the thumb rest or a key positioning.

For instance, I have very small hands and found it difficult to reach some of the alternate fingering keys on my clarinet - so I had them sawed off and re-soldered on in a different direction so I could reach them.

Thirdly, it is important to recognize that there are some really common reasons for performance injuries. The most common ones are a change in repertoire, a change in the instrument (such as a new mouthpiece or something similar), a change in practice time or an upcoming recital. If we can pinpoint what it is that the performer has been doing differently lately to contribute to their injury, that helps immensely.

And lastly, it is so important to realize, especially for freelance artists, that you can't just tell them to take a muscle relaxant, and take a few weeks off. If these people took a few weeks off, they wouldn't have a roof over their head or food on the table. While it's occasionally absolutely imperative that a break be taken, most of the time I take a holistic approach to treating performers and change and fix what we can, within the obvious limitations of current gigs and upcoming events.

3) What's the most common injury that you see in your office?

In my office, there is a tie for the most common injury. The first is upper back/shoulder/neck pain - I lump these together because those terms can mean the same thing to a lot of people - often someone will come in and say that their shoulder hurts and point to the pain, but to me what they're pointing to is actually their upper back or lower neck. This one is often a function of poor posture or poor practice ergonomics. If we can figure out how to improve the overall posture and ergonomic situation then this tends to resolve quickly.

And the second most common injury is hand and arm pain. You would not believe how many people walk into my office with numb and tingly hands and fingers - which can be very scary if you're the one to experience it - to find out that the problem isn't actually their hands and fingers at all, but it's a little further up the arm and can be quite easily treated once properly diagnosed. Or they come in with tennis elbow - but they have never held a tennis racket in their life! In my office, I call tennis and golfer's elbow "musician's elbow" because it is a repetitive strain injury. It is really, really common and surprisingly easy to treat.

4) What can musicians do to prevent injury?

First of all, don't be a hero! There is just no reason to practice for hours on end without a break. Always remember to take a little break for every 30 minutes that you are playing. Secondly, don't play through pain. The pain signal is there to tell you that you are doing something wrong. Playing through it is not going to get you anywhere - other than in more pain and in worse shape down the road. Thirdly, be aware of your ergonomics. If you sit to play, does your chair fit you properly? In rehearsal, do you have to strain at all to see both the stand and the conductor? Are your arms contorted oddly in order to be able to play properly? This is not good. And lastly, seek the help of a professional who can not only help you with the injuries that you are currently dealing with, but can help you avoid future injury and optimize your overall performance.

You can find out more about Dr. Sarah Mickeler and her Toronto-based chiropractic practice concentrating on musicians' injuries at http://www.drsarah.ca.

To echo Sarah's advice, please pay attention to any pain signals your body is sending you! Admitting you're having a physical problem doesn't make you any less of a musician it means you're a very smart musician with years of playing ahead of you!!

This article was originally published on the Muses Muse Songwriter's Resource website (February 2005) http://www.musesmuse.com.

(c) Copyright Linda Dessau, 2005.

Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach, helps artists enhance their creativity by addressing their unique self-care issues. To receive her free monthly newsletter, "Everyday Artist", subscribe at http://www.genuinecoaching.com/artist-newsletter.html

Check this new film masterpiece starring everybody's favorite hip hop musician, DYNAMO! Fresh from his recent exploits on the streets of London, adidas have sent their man to Miami, and the result is a 4 minute web film that captures Dynamo mystifying the local wildlife and tourists with his unique and original brand of street magic. PEEP IT HERE...

ADIDAS PRESS RELEASE

Dynamo, known in the UK as the Hip Hop magician, has captivated audiences with his unique brand of street magic. The web film enables the viewer to traverse Miami for a week with Dynamo and his Superstars as he dazzles Miami locals with his unique brand of magic and exposes the city’s rich, local flavor through the eyes of an Englishman on holiday. To truly capture all of Miami’s essence, Dynamo visits Little Havana, the Arts district, South Beach, locals-only hang-outs, and other areas off the beaten path, mesmerizing a wide cross-section of interesting people with his street magic. Winter Music Conference provided a rich backdrop of entertainers who were in town for the event including Rich Medina, legendary club DJ from Philly, and Black Spade, who were blown away by Dynamo’s reality defying tricks.

Conceptualized and executed by TAOW, A Modern Marketing Agency and directed by Rob Bruce (Laguna Beach, The Hills, etc.), the Superstar Magic film features a musical score by Om Records / Om: Hip Hop, and also highlights the ‘Watch My Feet Superstar’ remix courtesy of the Tapemasterz, Inc. The film launches digitally on Friday, the 13th of June, 2008, at www.adidas.com/superstar, and is supported by a comprehensive online media rollout at retail and print as part of the Celebrate Originality campaign. The Superstar micro site will host the film and feature behind the scenes footage, downloads including new ring tones,  and the newest collection of Superstars.  Visitors can even perform some Superstar magic of their own on the site. The campaign launched online in February 2008, with the release of the Adi Dassler film.  An inspirational piece, the first film captured the authenticity of the brand and the spirit of its founder, Adi Dassler.  Additional web films have followed to highlight key product stories and concepts throughout the year, including the upcoming Superstar Magic film on Friday, the 13th.

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The E-MU ESI2000 sampler

The ESI2000 sampler is E-MU's cheapest sampler (858), they have achieved this by cutting down on some features such as the built in Zip drive and DSP that featured in the now discontinued ESI4000. The missing features become available by fitting the Turbo Option (259), more about that later.

The Operating System

The E-MU operating system takes a little getting used to. To create a sample you hit the Sample Management Key which then prompts you to select a sub-module; if you know where you are going you can hit the appropriate numerical key for instance 5 will take you straight to the sample set-up page. If you dont know where you are going, then merely rotating the data wheel will list the options possible. This method of modules and sub-modules continues throughout the whole operating system, so once you have the concept grasped it becomes second nature. Indeed most functions are no more than a couple of button pushes away.

Sampling and Sample Editing

To sample, select your source (e.g. analogue), set the level, arm the sampler and then play it into the ESI. There is a VU meter displayed when you set the level, but there is no such display when sampling is in progress. This brings up the usual E-MU v. Akai sampler debate. Akai have always had good graphical displays of samples an idea which E-MU have never really embraced. To be honest though, by the time you know this sampler well enough to make your killer hit, it wont be a problem.

You can now define the start and end of the sample, loop it, reverse it, change the gain or create fades, cut portions out of a sample and paste it wherever you like. There is a pitch shift option where you can move your samples pitch without changing its length, which of course means that you can in theory vary the samples length without changing the pitch, this is one sure way to make interesting breakbeats.

Extra Weirdness

Some functions in a module called Digital Processing II are unique (as far as I know) to E-MU samplers. The strangest of these is Transform Multiply: as the manual says, t his function merges two sounds together in a unique way which can create many strange and beautiful sonic textures. Frequencies common to the original sounds are accentuated while uncommon frequencies are discarded. Not knowing what to expect, I made a sample of myself saying transform, another saying multiply, and then put them into the transform multiplier. At this point the ESI told me that it would take 90mins to complete and did I want to continue? I continued....the result was a sort of woof raahh sound of an underwater dog plenty of room for experiment here methinks!

There is also a Doppler/Pan function that moves a sound from front to back and side to side in a 2-D space, which actually works very well. The Sonic Enhancer adds brilliance and "cut" to a sample making it stand out in a mix; this is useful when you have a wicked sample that just seems to get lost in the mix.

Presets

A Preset is a collection of one or more samples that you have mapped to areas of the keyboard and assigned to a MIDI channel. Here you can define how the sound will change depending on how it is played. The ESI is very well specified here, for instance giving you no less than nineteen different kinds of filters. You can do all the stuff you would expect here, such as feeding some of the envelope signals into the filter to create dynamic wah type effects. I dont know if I am just asking too much but I couldnt seem to make them scream like some old Akai machines I know.

There is an LFO, which can be used to create sweeps, flanging and phasing. Unfortunately those are about all the effects you will find in this sampler. It has no delay, reverb or other DSP type effects; for this you will need to upgrade to the ESI Turbo option (see Expansion below).

Loading and storing samples

The sampler comes with a SCSI interface (the older Centronics style SCSI-1 socket) so you can connect a SCSI Zip Drive or something similar to it.

The sampler comes with two CDROMs of sounds, but these are in E-MU format so the only way you can use these is if you have a SCSI CDROM drive. Maybe bog standard audio CD would have been better!

Its worth noting that although you can import Akai sound libraries, this is only over SCSI and not floppies. Hmmm!

The Manual

The sampler comes with a 28-page printed handbook, containing seven Guided Tours. It is a cut down version of the full CDROM manual which contains another ten sections (plus an up-to-date version of Guided Tours), which go into great detail. These manuals are written in PDF, so to read them you will need a PC or a Mac with Adobe Acrobat Reader software. This is becoming an increasingly popular way to publish information but personally I find it immensely irritating. Someone whose only computer is an Atari or even a Workstation or a Groove Box would find it even more annoying! A hard copy manual makes good bedtime reading a CDROM doesnt!

Expansion

The standard machine comes with 4Mb of RAM and a 1.44Mb floppy drive to store your samples. Although this will get you started, it will only be a matter of weeks before you are fed up with having to load up to three floppies per song. The memory can be expanded to a huge 128Mb with standard SIMMS, which are now cheap and cheerful. If you expand the memory to anything like this amount, a SCSI hard drive will be your only serious option for storage even in these days of cheap IDE drives - SCSI hard drives are still expensive.

The ESI Turbo option adds two 24-bit stereo digital effects processors with over 70 effect algorithms; S/PDIF digital I/O for interfacing with other digital equipment; and two additional pairs of sub-mix outputs which allow external processing of specific sounds. This makes the ESI2000 into a very well specified sampler.

Pros

• Memory expandable cheaply and up to 128Mb
  

• Can be expanded later to give more outputs and effects and digital I/O
  

• SCSI interface as standard
  

• Comprehensive editing of raw samples

• Excellent price making it attractive to beginners
  

Cons

• Full manual only on CDROM

• No Reverb

• Will not read Akai floppies

• Filters not raucous enough for the more hardcore

• No graphical editing of samples or envelopes

• Only has a floppy drive as standard I would have liked a built in Zip drive at least

Active Loop Zone tracks are available on Myspace. Further details can be got by contacting Rick Lomas. Rick is currently working on various websites selling mortgage payment protection insurance.

In this day and age its rare that a rock n roll career lasts more than a few years, much less a decade. Of course there are some acts that have lasted the years through fluctuations of styles and genres of musics ever-changing fads. However, few can even come close to bragging of a career thats spanned three decades, as Sir Paul McCartney can.

The greatest part of it all is that it goes beyond that, since the three decades that we speak of are only from his solo career. Of course you cant forget the thirteen years before that while he toured with a small little group known as The Beatles. You may have heard of them.

Paul began his solo career by releasing his first album, McCartney two weeks before the Beatles released their last album Abbey Road. That first solo album had a warm welcome from fans, and so he went on to release a second album in 1971 called Ram. On this one, he included his new wife Linda McCartney so that they could be on tour together.

After Ram, he started the super group Wings, with wife Linda McCartney, as well as Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine, and drummer Denny Seiwell. The band started an unexpected tour in 1972 throughout Europe in small venues and various British University Auditoriums.

Wings' first live show was unannounced - and uninvited - and was for students at Nottingham University on February 9, 1972. Paul and Linda, their children, the band and pet dogs all drove north from London in a van, heading for towns picked at random and asking passers-by if their town had a university.

"Our first stop, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, said no," said Paul, "Nottingham said yes."

The price of entry at Wings' first show - at lunchtime in the Nottingham students union hall - was 50p on the door. Wings - Paul, Linda, drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarists Denny Laine and Henry McCullough, received a bag of 50p pieces, which were distributed amongst the band later in the back of the van.

For their first UK tour in 1972, Wings set out with no promoter, no advance or on-the-road publicity, no venues booked and no hotels booked. Hotels were called at the last minute.

From there, McCartney seemed to get the touring bug again and started producing albums and touring with Wings nearly every year to year and a half through to 1979. These included 1973 UK tour, 1975-1976 world tour & 1979 UK tour. The last ever wings concert was at Hammersmith Odeon, England December 29th 1979 and was a charity concert for the people of Kampuchea.

Wings were also due to tour Japan in 1980 but unfortunately Paul was arrested and jailed in Japan for carrying marijuana and the tour was cancelled. This was also the end of wings

In the 1980s McCartney ventured out on his own again, and recorded McCartney II, where, just like on his first self-titled album, he played every instrument on the album himself.

One thing that did change for McCartney during that year was his ambition to tour following the murder of his longtime friend and Beatles band mate John Lennon on Dec. 9th, 1980.

McCartney didnt want to tour following this tragic event and did not until play live again until 1985. In an interview with Playboy magazine in 1984, McCartney revealed that it was because he feared that he would be next to be murdered.

After he appeared at Live Aid in 1985, he got the touring bug and although it wasnt until 1989 he did his 1st live concerts for Fan Club members he kept right on going, recording and touring right into the 90s with two live albums in 1990 and 1993 as well as venturing into classical music that same decade.

In the new Millennium, McCartney fulfilled world tours from 2002 through to 2005 once again proving himself as one of the most prolific musicians on the planet. In 2006 he performed with rapper JayZ and rock band Linkin Park at the Grammy Awards, performing Yesterday in honor of the death of Coretta Scott King.

At age 64 this year, who knows what will come out of Sir McCartney next, but you can be sure that he wont be settling down anytime soon.

Jason Hobbs has been a fan of Paul McCartney for over 25 years and runs a Paul McCartney related lens at Squidoo - CLICK HERE to view Lens

The newly launched Nike 1World project has been created in conjunction with select cool kids in the “sports, music, art and design fields”, presumably hand-picked for their innate panache on a global scale. The scope of 1World has been defined as 18 original shoes, which will be launched month by month via Nike's awesome AF-1 website.

Today the first three have now been revealed – from the rainbow excess of Busy P to the refelective digital camo of Gore-Texer (Nitro Microphone Underground) and finally Rasheed’s hightop with ‘Max Air’, you couldn’t find three more different AF-1s if you tried. Definitely a bright start to this project...
Just go to http://www.nikeairforce1.com and hit the 1World button - all will be revealed in due course!

 

For some it'll be a date to note in their diaries and one on which they'll rush out in anticipation to the record stores. For others it'll be time to clap their hands over their ears in an attempt to protect their hearing.

July 21 has been confirmed as the release date for Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's new album - her first since she took up residence alongside her husband, Nicolas Sarkozy, at the president's official residence, the Elyse Palace.

Bruni-Sarkozy launched herself musically on an unsuspecting public back in 2002 with the release of her first album "Quelqu'un m'a dit," which received both critical and commercial acclaim. It sold 1.2 million copies in France alone and a further 800.000 abroad.

Her follow-up in 2007, "No promises" in which she set music to English-language poems was something of a flop by comparison, notching up sales of around 80,000 here in France.

Perhaps she has learned her lesson by only including one track on her new album where she sets a poem to music - this time by the French writer, Michel Houellebecq.

According to her agent - as if Bruni-Sarkozy actually needed one - the as yet untitled new album will include 14 songs, many of them penned by the singer herself. There'll also be a remake of a Bob Dylan number as well as a song in her native Italian, proving that she remains ever the polyglot with an eye on the international market.

The album will be released simultaneously in France, Italy, Germany and Britain

It'll be the third offering from the former model-turned singer-turned president's wife, and music lovers won't be the only ones curious to find out whether her new life as France's First lady has had any influence on her artistic output or direction.

But those expecting some sort of presidential revelation or behind-the-scenes surprise could well be in for a disappointment as apparently 95 per cent of the material on the album was written before she first met Sarkozy.

Leaving little to chance and definitely not relying on the presidential stamp of approval, Bruni-Sarkozy is also rumoured to be negotiating a number of television talk show appearances on both of France's main channels to coincide with the album's release

One thing's for certain, whether you relish the chance to hear her folksy ditties or consider her recordings as nothing more than unwelcome warbling, it'll be hard to ignore her.

Johnny Summerton is a Paris-based broadcaster, writer and journalist. For more on what's making the headlines here in France, log on to his site at http://www.persiflagefrance.com

On May 17th the 2nd Annual Harold Hunter Day brought together NYC’s skateboarding community for a positive day of shredding in honor of the late, great Harold Hunter.  More than five-hundred skaters and spectators swarmed the Manhattan Bridge Skatepark for a heated six-hour session with beats provided by New York’s finest, Pete Rock.  Afterward, the masses flocked to KCDC Skateshop where, in true Harold form, the party bumped late into the night.

In celebration of this noteworthy occasion and to keep Harold’s spirit strong, the non-profit Harold Hunter Foundation has teamed up with The Zoo York Institute to release a limited edition HH Day II commemorative deck and t-shirt featuring Harold pics by long-time friend and acclaimed photographer, Giovanni Reda. 

Both items are now available only at select New York shops including Rival, Autumn, Everything Must Go, Richmond Hood Company, Blades, DQM, and Homage.  Additionally, a special bundled kit including a deck, t-shirt and signed copy of Reda’s “Harold Hunter: The Book” is available exclusively at KCDC.  Proceeds from the sale of all HH Day II commemorative gear will be donated to the Harold Hunter Foundation which will use the funds to send six underprivileged NYC kids to Camp Woodward this summer.

A complete event wrap-up is available at hhday.blogspot.com, and a Harold Hunter Day II podcast shot and produced by RB Umali will release in late June.

Learning to play an instrument can be very rewarding and satisfying. The only real problem is what musical instrument to learn as there are so many available.

Learning an instrument is a fun personal challenge. The ultimate satisfaction is mastering a piece of music is the accomplishment of finishing, in some peoples eyes. The joy and satisfaction of being able to play a piece proficiently and thoughtful helps create the feeling of accomplishment.

But where to start with learning to play the piano. Actually playing the piano can be quite easy. The tone of the note only comes from pressing a key on a string. Most pianos contain 88 keys, separated between black and white. Piano keys are generally made by Ebony and Ivory, and the harder the player presses the key the louder the sound. The volume can also be controlled by two pedals found on most pianos. The right hand piano pedal is called the sustain pedal. When pressed simultaneously with a note, the sound created resonates and remains when the finger is removed from the key. This happens because inside the piano the dampers on the strings are removed when the pedal is pressed down thus meaning that the string will continue to resonate resulting in the sound continuing.

The sustain pedal can also be used to help create feeling and atmosphere. Often the pedal is used in quiet parts of the piece to help create this atmosphere, so please don't think that the sustain pedal is only used when playing loudly. Use of the sustain pedal is a skill that all pianists will gain through regular practice. Over use of the pedal will effect the performance considerably.

The other pedal is sometimes used but more often than not, as much as the right pedal. This other pedal is used to help control the volume, helping to create a much quieter sound. For this to happen with the use of the pedal, when it is pressed down, the hammers inside the piano that strike the strings only strike one of the 2 or 3 strings inside the piano. The theory is, 1 string resonating is going to be quieter than 2 or 3 strings resonating. This said, pianists shouldn't use the left pedal for soft playing and the right pedal for loud playing. You can still play quietly with the right pedal and loudly with the left pedal. For the ability of controlling volume you can not get better than your fingers which strike the note in the first place.

Learning to play the piano at home can be beneficial, however it, like any other self teaching method, will require an amount of perseverance. There are many resources available on the internet for those people who want to learn how to play the piano. I would suggest the below link as a good enough place to start. The main reason being is that this is written by a classically trained pianist and provides more than one suggested resource for learning the piano online. The resources also give other good pianist techniques such as improvisation, chords, sight reading, playing by ear etc. These are skills that all musicians should aim to perfect as well as their own instrument.

Chris Gilmour, a classically trained conservatoire pianist and teacher who recommends http://www.pianoplayingtips.info

The mixes are finally back and that is really all that I have to say. Enjoy! The Republic Tigers - The Nerve Flying Foxes - Lost In Low Cloud Jack Peate - Have I Been A Fool? Someone… (in post This Week's Mix from Instrumental Analysis. More by this artist at eMusic Amazont iTunes)

Back in the 60s, when I first got interested in audio gear, home audio systems that were considered to be "hi-fi" (high fidelity) typically had total distortion values of around 0.1%. This was considered to be an inaudible level, especially in the light of research showing that distortion had to rise to almost 1% before most people would begin to notice it. So 0.1% distortion sounded "perfect."

Despite this, improvements in electronic components and circuitry brought ever-decreasing distortion specs of 0.01%, .005%, .001%, and so on. Although nobody would complain about improved specs, we were pretty clearly past the point where any normal person could detect the results of still further improvement in the sound. It didn't get "more perfect."

It seems to me that something like this has happened to modern recording, even on a hobby level. Digital recording and processing gives us a 90 dB dynamic range. We record our tracks at 24 bits with a 96 kHz sampling rate. The frequency response is virtually infinite. And the distortion? Jeez, it must be down to 0.0000001% by now! Everything sounds perfect.

Then what do people do with our perfectly recorded songs? They download them as mp3 files and listen with earbuds. They play the CD in the car while driving and talking to friends. They listen on the computer. They listen while they run on a treadmill. What they don't do is sit quietly and listen to the music on a "hi-fi" system while thinking "My goodness, this song has very low distortion."

Pet Sounds

Even if the listener does notice how perfect it sounds, they may not like it that way! I remember the first time I heard a long-treasured Beach Boys album as a "remastered CD" instead of a record. It was pristine and crystalline, set against a black-velvet backdrop of silence. Each voice was clear and separated from all the others. The guitars shimmered and shone. It was awful.

The problem was that it was "too perfect." Somewhere in the process of getting turned into 1s and 0s, all the magic had gone out of the music, leaving it lifeless. Maybe it was the isolation of the voices (they're supposed to blend, it's the freakin' Beach Boys), maybe it was the bizarre immediacy of the sound (they're not supposed to be here in the room), or who knows, maybe the super-low distortion was to blame!

I had read that CD mastering engineers sometimes purposely inject hiss, manipulate the overall EQ, or (yes) increase the distortion for certain types of music to make the final product sound more "real" and less sterile. After my Beach Boys experience, I can see why.

Lighten Up and Fly Right

OK, nice rant. But what does this have to do with my recordings right now, in the 21st century? Don't get me wrong here. I'm not telling you to not strive for perfection, to not make your recordings sound as good as you can make them sound. I am merely suggesting that there is no need to obsess over unhearable sound-quality issues at the expense of attention not paid to the actual music.

I will sometimes read a poster on a recording forum complaining about having to drop from 24bit@96kHz all the way to 16bit@44.1kHz recording (so the computer can handle all ten plug-ins he's using), as if such a "lo-fi" recording is hardly worth making and will probably come out sounding like one of Edison's original cylinders. "It's 24/96 or nothing for me."

Balderdash! The lowest resolutions and sampling rates available on modern equipment can provide (literally) CD-quality sound that will sound great to everyone. The quality of the song, the performance, the mixing, the mastering - all of these are much more important factors than perfect vs. hyper-perfect digital settings.

So my general (cheap) advice is, lighten up! Don't be fooled by those ever-lower distortion specs. Fire up that Radio Shack stomp box and put some hiss in your next rock-n-roll mix. Let the meters go into the red from time to time. Don't worry about a little leakage between mikes. And feel free to record at 16/44.1 all the time. You don't want your song to end up sounding "perfect," do you?

Mark Bendig is The Cheap Advice Guy, owner and operator of http://cheapadviceonmusic.com, offering "Tips from the trenches on Songwriting, Recording, and Live Sound." A series of eBooks on these very topics will be available on the website in Summer 2008.

Singing is perhaps one of the longest known form of entertainment in the history of human civilization.
While it's true not everyone is born as a singer, learning to sing is not a difficult process either.
With the growing number of passionate and aspiring singers to fine tune their ability to sing, is the development of musical instruments and of course, Karaoke machines. And let us not forget the number of musical schools that are blooming right now. But, for the purpose of this short article, I will discuss about one particular fun way for you to learn to sing and also what is the stumbling stone that prevent any aspiring singer to reach their full potential.

Singing ability, like any other ability, such as communication skill and also marketing skill is a talent that would develop if we nurture it the right way. And if we diligently train our voice, there's almost nothing that can stop everyone to sing their heart out, and ultimately is to sing like a star.

If you just started to learn to sing,it's important for you to be able to overcome your fear of other's criticism.
People can say whatever they want, but, they can't take away your passion in singing. If you can overcome this fear alone, I can assure you that, almost half the battle is already won. You must get rid of your shyness if you're serious to learn to sing. Just imagine, if one day you're standing with a microphone in your hand in front of the American Idol judges and you're shy to sing, what would happen? Even the singer with the best voice in the whole wide world would be eliminated before the final round is (s)he's shy. Yes, of course (s)he is still entitled for that fifteen minutes of fame, but it's all for the wrong reason. You don't want to end up like that now, do you?

There are several ways you can do to overcome this fear, one of it is, you should join your friends for a weekly Karaoke session. I am a firm believer that we can learn a new ability in shorter amount of time if we're having fun while learning it. It can cut down the learning curve period and also the awkwardness you might face if you end up singing in front of hundreds of audience, perhaps a school singing competition? And in this case, it would be a good thing to have a group of fun loving friends along with for a karaoke session together to sing along with you without putting so much pressure whether you're singing it like an American Idol or not. And what's better, no one is going to criticize you even if you're singing off key!
Well, of course it's not a good idea to beat your friend up if they laugh at you, but of course that's another story.

Chen Chee Kui is passionate about music and he loves to sing. Chee Kui is also interested in helping you to learn to sing. He also blogs regularly about ways to make money online on his blog.